Andrew Beal
Encyclopedia
D. Andrew "Andy" Beal is a Dallas, Texas
-based billionaire businessman who was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan
. He made his fortune in banking and real estate and is the founder and chairman of Beal Bank
and Beal Aerospace Technologies
. Beal is also known for his high-stakes poker games and his interest in mathematics. Beal has an estimated worth of US$
6.6 billion as of 2011.
. During his years in high school (Lansing Sexton) he began to earn money by fixing televisions with the help of his uncle Denny (Dennis Rogozinski), later installing apartment security systems and eventually with the help of some friends, he began to relocate dislodged houses. Beal would link hydraulic jacks and raise homes at night and then move or level them. At the age of 18, Andy purchased Spartan and Jackson Speedway, one of very few business ventures that haven't worked out for Beal.
Beal, who had excelled on his high school debate team, enrolled at Michigan State University
and subsequently attended Baylor University
in Texas. At age 19, Beal bought a house in Lansing for $6,500 (USD) and started renting it for $119 per month, which eventually led to his first net gain as a businessman.
, the Brick Towers
. Beal became known for buying properties that no one else would want, feeling that everything he bought could be turned into a profitable property.
His business strategy paid off, and in 1988, he was able to open his first bank in Dallas
. At first called Allegiance Savings and Loan Association, the tiny building was the first bank of the company that would later be renamed to Beal Financial, which now includes Beal Bank
, Beal Bank Nevada, CSG Investments, Inc., Loan Acquisition Corporation, and Beal Mortgage Services.
During the 1990s, Beal tried to expand Beal Bank
's services to include international markets such as Russia
and Mexico
. These attempts failed and Beal retreated from foreign expansion.
In 1997, Beal started an aerospace company to build rockets capable of placing communications satellites in orbit. After more than 3 years of financial losses, Beal closed the company and ceased operations.
In 2000, Beal Bank bought over $1 billion USD in commercial loans from the SBA
. These included loans made to businesses in Palau
, and the United States Virgin Islands
, where some local businesses had borrowed money from American institutions after Hurricane Hugo
.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks
, Beal once again went against what some call "common business sense", and began buying aircraft
debt. He figured the airlines would recover from the tragedy; aircraft debt prices were very low at the time following the attacks, and Beal bought them expecting to sell them once they rebounded in price. Beal Bank
makes about $70,000,000 USD of profit a year from those bonds.
player in his youth, in 2001 Beal began visiting the Bellagio
in Las Vegas
to participate in high stakes poker
games, almost exclusively heads-up Limit Texas hold 'em
. During several visits between 2001 and 2004, Beal played a syndicate
of professional poker players known as "The Corporation", which included Doyle Brunson
, Chip Reese
, Todd Brunson
, Ted Forrest
, Jennifer Harman
, Howard Lederer
, Phil Ivey
, Gus Hansen
, Barry Greenstein
, Chau Giang
, and others.
Beal hoped to force the collective group of pros into such high stakes that their play would be influenced by the amount of money at risk. By the end of their encounters in 2004 they were playing $100,000/$200,000 Limit
Texas hold 'em heads up with more than $20 million on the table. This story was chronicled in Michael Craig's book, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time.
While the games outlined in Craig's book ended in 2004, Beal returned to Las Vegas from February 1–5, 2006 to again take on "The Corporation" in a $50,000/100,000 Limit Hold 'Em match at the Wynn Las Vegas
Casino. Opponents included Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest, and others.
On February 5, 2006, Beal was down $3.3 million (USD). He then returned to the Wynn
a week later, and won approximately $13.6 million from the Corporation during daily poker sessions from February 12–15. The games resumed February 21–23, with Phil Ivey
representing the Corporation against Beal at limits of $30,000/60,000 and $50,000/100,000. During these three days, Beal lost $16.6 million to Ivey.
Beal is recognized as the poker player who won more money in a poker game in a single day than any other known poker player. On Thursday, May 13, 2004, at the Las Vegas Bellagio, Beal won $11.7 million from Chip Reese
, Hamid Dastmalchi
, Gus Hansen
, and Jennifer Harman
.
. His work in mathematical number theory
also included his 1993 articulation of Beal's conjecture
, a generalization of Fermat's theorem; he funded a $100,000 (USD) prize for its proof or disproof.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
-based billionaire businessman who was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
. He made his fortune in banking and real estate and is the founder and chairman of Beal Bank
Beal Bank
Beal Bank is a Texas-based bank founded in 1988 by Andy Beal. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Beal Bank has deposit branches in more than 30 major metropolitan areas across the United States....
and Beal Aerospace Technologies
Beal Aerospace
Beal Aerospace was a launch vehicle development company, founded in February 1997 by Andrew Beal, president of Beal Bank in Dallas, Texas. The goal of the company was to build and operate a privately developed heavy lift orbital launch vehicle...
. Beal is also known for his high-stakes poker games and his interest in mathematics. Beal has an estimated worth of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
6.6 billion as of 2011.
Early life
Beal wanted to be a businessman since he was a teenager in Lansing, MichiganLansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
. During his years in high school (Lansing Sexton) he began to earn money by fixing televisions with the help of his uncle Denny (Dennis Rogozinski), later installing apartment security systems and eventually with the help of some friends, he began to relocate dislodged houses. Beal would link hydraulic jacks and raise homes at night and then move or level them. At the age of 18, Andy purchased Spartan and Jackson Speedway, one of very few business ventures that haven't worked out for Beal.
Beal, who had excelled on his high school debate team, enrolled at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
and subsequently attended Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
in Texas. At age 19, Beal bought a house in Lansing for $6,500 (USD) and started renting it for $119 per month, which eventually led to his first net gain as a businessman.
Business career
In 1981, Beal bought a project building in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, the Brick Towers
Brick Towers
Brick Towers was a 324-unit affordable housing development in Newark, New Jersey, originally occupied in 1970. The buildings were demolished in 2006, despite opposition by the City’s Mayor Cory Booker who was living in the property at the time. Although the buildings were reported structurally...
. Beal became known for buying properties that no one else would want, feeling that everything he bought could be turned into a profitable property.
His business strategy paid off, and in 1988, he was able to open his first bank in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. At first called Allegiance Savings and Loan Association, the tiny building was the first bank of the company that would later be renamed to Beal Financial, which now includes Beal Bank
Beal Bank
Beal Bank is a Texas-based bank founded in 1988 by Andy Beal. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Beal Bank has deposit branches in more than 30 major metropolitan areas across the United States....
, Beal Bank Nevada, CSG Investments, Inc., Loan Acquisition Corporation, and Beal Mortgage Services.
During the 1990s, Beal tried to expand Beal Bank
Beal Bank
Beal Bank is a Texas-based bank founded in 1988 by Andy Beal. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Beal Bank has deposit branches in more than 30 major metropolitan areas across the United States....
's services to include international markets such as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. These attempts failed and Beal retreated from foreign expansion.
In 1997, Beal started an aerospace company to build rockets capable of placing communications satellites in orbit. After more than 3 years of financial losses, Beal closed the company and ceased operations.
In 2000, Beal Bank bought over $1 billion USD in commercial loans from the SBA
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
. These included loans made to businesses in Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, and the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, where some local businesses had borrowed money from American institutions after Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...
.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, Beal once again went against what some call "common business sense", and began buying aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
debt. He figured the airlines would recover from the tragedy; aircraft debt prices were very low at the time following the attacks, and Beal bought them expecting to sell them once they rebounded in price. Beal Bank
Beal Bank
Beal Bank is a Texas-based bank founded in 1988 by Andy Beal. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Beal Bank has deposit branches in more than 30 major metropolitan areas across the United States....
makes about $70,000,000 USD of profit a year from those bonds.
Poker playing
A blackjackBlackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
player in his youth, in 2001 Beal began visiting the Bellagio
Bellagio (hotel and casino)
Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.Inspired by the...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
to participate in high stakes poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
games, almost exclusively heads-up Limit Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
. During several visits between 2001 and 2004, Beal played a syndicate
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
of professional poker players known as "The Corporation", which included Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
, Chip Reese
Chip Reese
David Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...
, Todd Brunson
Todd Brunson
Todd Alan Brunson is an American professional poker player and the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.Although Brunson's father Doyle is a poker player, Brunson did not learn the game when he was young. It was not until he was studying law at Texas Tech University that he learned on his own how to...
, Ted Forrest
Ted Forrest
Ted Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...
, Jennifer Harman
Jennifer Harman
Jennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight...
, Howard Lederer
Howard Lederer
Howard Henry Lederer is an American professional poker player and brother of poker professional Annie Duke, and author and poet Katy Lederer. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
, Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey
Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
, Gus Hansen
Gus Hansen
Gustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
, Barry Greenstein
Barry Greenstein
Barry Greenstein is a professional poker player. He has won a number of major events, including three at the World Series of Poker and two on the World Poker Tour. Greenstein donates his profit from tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children, Incorporated, earning him the nickname "the...
, Chau Giang
Chau Giang
Chau Tu Giang is an American professional poker player of Chinese descent, who is a three time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and a three time final tablist of the World Poker Tour with over $3 million in live tournament winnings alone.- Biography :Giang fled Vietnam in a small boat in the...
, and others.
Beal hoped to force the collective group of pros into such high stakes that their play would be influenced by the amount of money at risk. By the end of their encounters in 2004 they were playing $100,000/$200,000 Limit
Betting (poker)
In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...
Texas hold 'em heads up with more than $20 million on the table. This story was chronicled in Michael Craig's book, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time is a 2005 book by Michael Craig detailing billionaire Andrew Beal's series of high stakes poker games with Las Vegas' top professional poker players. The book title refers to some of the professional...
: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time.
While the games outlined in Craig's book ended in 2004, Beal returned to Las Vegas from February 1–5, 2006 to again take on "The Corporation" in a $50,000/100,000 Limit Hold 'Em match at the Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...
Casino. Opponents included Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest, and others.
On February 5, 2006, Beal was down $3.3 million (USD). He then returned to the Wynn
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...
a week later, and won approximately $13.6 million from the Corporation during daily poker sessions from February 12–15. The games resumed February 21–23, with Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey
Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
representing the Corporation against Beal at limits of $30,000/60,000 and $50,000/100,000. During these three days, Beal lost $16.6 million to Ivey.
Beal is recognized as the poker player who won more money in a poker game in a single day than any other known poker player. On Thursday, May 13, 2004, at the Las Vegas Bellagio, Beal won $11.7 million from Chip Reese
Chip Reese
David Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...
, Hamid Dastmalchi
Hamid Dastmalchi
Hamid Reza Dastmalchi is an Iranian-American professional poker player.Dastmalchi won the 1992 World Series of Poker main event, which is his largest tournament win at $1 million...
, Gus Hansen
Gus Hansen
Gustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
, and Jennifer Harman
Jennifer Harman
Jennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight...
.
Mathematical work
Beal has been described as a "numbers nut", and has attempted a solution to Fermat's Last TheoremFermat's Last Theorem
In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two....
. His work in mathematical number theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
also included his 1993 articulation of Beal's conjecture
Beal's conjecture
Beal's conjecture is a conjecture in number theory proposed by Andrew Beal in about 1993; a similar conjecture was suggested independently at about the same time by Andrew Granville....
, a generalization of Fermat's theorem; he funded a $100,000 (USD) prize for its proof or disproof.